Jack Stollsteimer, Delaware County District Attorney

District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer is the proud son of a union family who’s lived his American Dream in Delaware County.

Jack’s mother Henrietta, was born in Soviet Ukraine. As a young girl, she was imprisoned in a Nazi slave labor camp, and, upon being liberated, survived homelessness with her family on the streets of a war-ravaged Europe. In 1951 Henrietta and her family immigrated to America, arriving in the City of Chester to begin their new lives as free people.

Jack’s father Fred dropped out of Upper Darby High School at 17 to join the U.S. Army during the Korean War. After proudly serving his country, he raised his family into the middle class through his hard work as a SEPTA driver.

Inspired by his parents’ pursuit of the American Dream, Jack worked his way through college, graduating at age thirty-four by completing his course work at night and on weekends. In law school, Jack joined the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office as an intern representing the Commonwealth in pre-trial hearings. In 2000, Jack graduated from Temple University’s Beasley School of Law, passed the bar, and was appointed as an Assistant District Attorney prosecuting cases in juvenile and adult criminal courts in Delaware County.

Just one year later, in 2001, Jack was recruited to join the U.S. Department of Justice as the policy analyst and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) gun violence reduction initiative in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. In 2004 Jack became an Assistant United States Attorney and led a gun violence task force targeting the “Badlands” of North Central Philadelphia. Jack had the distinction of earning a 100% conviction rate during his years as a federal prosecutor.

In 2006, Governor Ed Rendell appointed Jack as Pennsylvania’s Safe Schools Advocate for the Philadelphia School District. In this unique watchdog role, Jack established a reputation for independence and integrity by publicly reporting the School District’s systemic failure to report violent crimes properly. Because of his work, District officials made policy changes to protect school children and teachers better. In 2012, the Philadelphia Inquirer won a Pulitzer Prize for a series on school violence that was based in part on Jack’s advocacy and investigation.

More recently, in his capacity as Deputy State Treasurer for Consumer Programs, Jack worked with State Treasurer Joe Torsella to establish the PA ABLE savings program for people with disabilities and the Keystone Scholars grant program, to give every child born or adopted in Pennsylvania a brighter future by seeding higher education savings accounts to encourage all children to achieve their dreams through higher education and career training.

A long-time Delco resident, Jack graduated from St. Denis School in Havertown and attended Archbishop Carroll before graduating from Ridley Senior High School. Jack and his wife are raising their two children in Havertown, and have been active in community causes for years.